Transactions Between Relatives Raise Corporate-Governance Questions

A few years ago, a family-owned energy company in Texas found that it was sitting atop an emerging, epic oil field. Tapping the crude, however, would require a load of cash.

So the Sanchez family transferred its prized properties in the Eagle Ford Shale into a holding company, Sanchez Energy Corp., which the family took public in late 2011. Sanchez Energy's shares have climbed 50% this year, giving the Houston-based company a stock-market value that briefly topped $1 billion. Its oil-and-gas production has surged to about...